Qatar International Falconry Festival begins

January 10, 2013 - 3:30:11 am

Falconry enthusiasts attending the festival. Right: A contestant with his bird.

DOHA: The fourth Qatar International Falconry Festival kicked off yesterday at Sabkhat Marm, Sealine. The first competition of the festival, Al Tala, which started yesterday, will continue until tomorrow.

Three out of 47 participants qualified in the first competition. They are Ali Mohammad bin Ayash Al Mansuri, Saleh Ubayd Al Mehran Al Marri and Ali Al Sharqi Al Marri.

The competition started in the afternoon and ended by 4.30pm, said a statement issued by the organising committee of the festival.

“Signboards have been placed in Arabic and English on the way to the competition ground at Sealine to help the visitors and participants reach there easily,” said Ali bin Khatam Al Muhshadi, head of the organising committee.

“The three participants who qualified today will be included in the list of top 10 finalists based on the performance of their falcons in hunting the targeted prey in the given time,” said Al Muhshadi.

“The weather is very pleasant for the competition this year and the distance of electronic Al Habari (dummy prey) is about 900 metres, which is nice, and it is not creating any problem for the participants,” said the head of the Al Tala competition, Fahad Mohammad Al Asiri.

“I hope my falcon will perform well this year and catch the prey in the given time,” said a participant, Mohammad Mubarak Al Khayarain. Another participant, Said Busharbak, whose falcon missed the target in the first competition, said the original prey was better than the dummy one. “Falcons are not familiar with dummy prey so they might avoid hunting it,” said Busharbak.